Historical Events
Boxing Title Fight
May 2 Floyd Mayweather Jr. beats Manny Pacquiao on points in 12 rounds in world welterweight unification fight, shatters all financial records for a boxing match
- May 2 Toulon win the 2015 European Rugby Champions Cup final at Twickenham
- May 3 62nd National Film Awards (India): "Court" wins the Golden Lotus
- May 3 Chelsea wins the 2014–15 English football Premier League
Appointment of Interest
May 3 Chris Isaak is confirmed as a judge on the seventh season of "The X Factor Australia"
Sports History
May 4 Golden State Warrior Stephen Curry is named MVP for the 2014-15 NBA season
- May 4 World Snooker Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: Stuart Bingham beats fellow Englishman Shaun Murphy, 18-15 for his lone world title
- May 5 "Traveller" debut album by Chris Stapleton is released (Grammy Award Best Country Album, 2016; Billboard Album of the Year, 2016)
- May 5 Archaeornithura meemannae, the oldest known prehistoric bird, is discovered
- May 5 Scientists announce the discovery of the oldest & most distant galaxy known to man, EGS-zs8-1
Election of Interest
May 7 British General Elections: Conservative Party win outright majority and David Cameron returns as Prime Minister
- May 9 A gun fight erupts in Macedonian town of Kumanovo between police and Albanian separatists adding to the government crisis
Film & TV History
May 10 61st British Academy Television Awards: "The Graham Norton Show" Best Comedy, "Happy Valley" Best Drama
PGA Players Championship
May 10 PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Rickie Fowler wins beating Kevin Kisner and Sergio García by 1 stroke in a playoff
Event of Interest
May 15 Carl Icahn invests $100 million in Lyft, a ride-sharing service
- May 16 140th Preakness: Victor Espinoza aboard American Pharoah wins in 1:58.46
Blurryface,
May 17 "Blurryface," 4th studio album by Twenty One Pilots is released (1st album ever to have every track gold-certified)
Billboard Music Awards
May 17 22nd Billboard Music Awards: Taylor Swift wins top artist & 7 other awards
- May 17 A mudslide hits the alpine town of Salgar in Western Colombia killing over 50 people
- May 17 Canada defeats Russia to win gold at the 2015 IIHF World Championship
- May 17 Gun fight between rival biker gangs and police in Waco, Texas leaves 9 dead and 18 injured. 170 later arrested for organised crime.
- May 17 Melbourne Victory FC defeats Sydney FC to win the Australian A-League
- May 17 The Tradition Senior Men's Golf, Shoal Creek G&CC: Jeff Maggert wins first of 2 consecutive Champions Tour majors with par on 1st playoff hole against Kevin Sutherland
Prince Charles and Gerry Adams Meet
May 19 Historic first handshake between Prince Charles and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams at the National University of Ireland in Galway
- May 19 UK inflation is recorded as a negative for the first time since 1960
- May 20 5 major world banks (JPMorgan, Barclays, Citigroup, RBS and UBS) fined US$5.7bn for manipulating currency markets - some of the largest ever fines
Film & TV History
May 20 David Letterman hosts the "Late Show with David Letterman" for the last time, ending 33 years in late night television
- May 20 Journal Nature publishes findings of the oldest human-made tools from Kenya’s Turkana basin - 3.3 million years, 1st found to pre-date the Homo genus
- May 20 NASCAR 2016 Hall of Fame inductees: Bobby Isaac, Terry Labonte and Jerry Cook
Music History
May 21 Flavor Flav is arrested near Las Vegas on charges including speeding and driving under the influence
Talk
May 22 Daniel Johns releases "Talk", his debut album as a solo artist
- May 22 Ireland becomes 1st country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote
Film & TV History
May 22 Netflix announce that Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen will not appear on "Full House" revival
- May 22 Pakistan begin the first test-playing nation cricket tour of Zimbabwe since 2009
- May 23 60th Eurovision Song Contest: Mans Zelmerlow for Sweden wins singing "Heroes" in Vienna
- May 24 68th Cannes Film Festival: "Dheepan" directed by Jacques Audiard wins the Palme d'Or
- May 24 Indianapolis 500: 2000 champion Juan Pablo Montoya of Columbia sets record for most years between two victories in the race - fifteen years
- May 24 IPL Cricket Final, Eden Gardens, Kolkata: Mumbai Indians beat Chennai Super Kings by 41 runs; Lendl Simmons top scores, 68 (45)
Senior PGA Championship
May 24 Senior PGA Championship, French Lick Resort: Defending champion Colin Montgomerie of Scotland wins by 4 strokes from Mexican Esteban Toledo
Jurassic World
May 29 "Jurassic World", directed by Colin Trevorrow and starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard premieres in Paris
- May 29 Heat wave in India centered in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states is reported to have killed 1800 people in a week
Event of Interest
May 29 Muhammadu Buhari is sworn in as the President of Nigeria
- May 29 NHL Eastern Conference Finals: Tampa Bay Lightning beat New York Rangers, 4 games to 3
Election of Interest
May 29 Sepp Blatter is controversially elected to a fifth term as President of FIFA despite bribery scandals; resigns 5 days later
- May 30 Alistair Cook becomes the leading run scorer of all time in test cricket for England
- May 30 English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,283): Arsenal beats Aston Villa, 4-0; Gunners' 12th title
- May 30 FC Barcelona defeat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 in the 2014–15 Copa del Rey final
- May 30 Namibia defeat Mozambique 2-0 to win the 2015 COSAFA Cup
- May 30 NHL Western Conference Finals: Chicago Blackhawks beat Anaheim Ducks, 4 games to 3
- May 31 5th Critics' Choice Television Awards: Silicon Valley wins Best Comedy Series, The Americans win Best Drama Series
- May 31 Harriette Thompson aged 92 and 65 days becomes the oldest woman to complete a marathon (Suja Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego)
Famous Birthdays
- May 2 Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, daughter of Prince William and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, 3rd in line to the English throne, born in London
Famous Weddings
Geri Horner
May 15 Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell (42) weds F1 racing team boss Christian Horner (41) in Bedfordshire, England
- May 16 Glee singer/actress Heather Morris (28) weds high school sweetheart Taylor Hubbell at Old Canyon Ranch in Topanga, California
- May 24 Actress and model Michelle Keegan (28) weds TV presenter Mark Wright (28) at Hengrave Hall estate in Suffolk
- May 30 Actor Eric Balfour (38) weds fashion designer Erin Chiamulon (31) in Pacific Palisades, California
Famous Deaths
- May 1 (Alexander) "Bobby" Kok, Boer-British classical and session cellist (BBC Symphony; George Harrison - "When We Was Fab"), dies at 89
- May 1 Dan Farley, American racing journalist (President National Turf Writer's Association), dies at 72
- May 1 Geoff Duke, English motorcycle racer (world 500cc champion 1951, 1953-55), dies at 92
- May 1 Grace Lee Whitney, American singer and actress (Yeoman Rand-Star Trek), dies at 85
- May 1 Pete Brown, American golfer (first African-American to win on PGA Tour, Waco 1964), dies at 80
- May 2 Guy Carawan, American folk singer and folklorist (We Shall Overcome), dies at 87
- May 2 Ma Shui-long, Taiwanese classical composer (The Peacock Flies Southeast), dies at 75
- May 2 Maya Plisetskaya, Russian prima ballerina (Bolshoi Ballet), dies at 89
- May 2 Ruth Rendell, English thriller writer (Inspector Wexford novels), dies at 85
- May 5 Craig Gruber, American rock bassist (Rainbow), dies of cancer at 63
- May 6 Errol Brown, British-Jamaican singer-songwriter (Hot Chocolate - "You Sexy Thing"), dies at 71
- May 6 Jim Wright, American Democratic politician and Speaker of the House (1987-89), dies at 92
- May 7 Sir Samuel "Sam" Edwards, Welsh physicist (condensed matter physics), dies at 87
- May 8 (Antoni) "Ton" Hartsuiker, Dutch pianist, composer, broadcaster, and educator, dies at 81
- May 8 Jaime León, Colombian pianist, composer, and conductor Filarmónica de Bogota, 1971-78), dies at 93
- May 9 Christopher Wood, English screenwriter and novelist (Confessions), dies at 79
- May 9 Elizabeth Wilson, American screen and stage actress (Doc, East Side/West Side), dies at 94
- May 9 Kenan Evren, Turkish soldier and politician, (President of Turkey 1980-1989 by military coup), dies at 97
- May 11 Jef Geeraerts, Flemish writer (Black Venus) and crime novelist, dies at 85
- May 12 Mervyn Burtch, Welsh composer (The Raven King) and educator, dies at 85
- May 12 Ruth Mompati, South African politician and Secretary of Nelson Mandela, dies at 89
- May 13 Robert Drasnin, American clarinetist, composer, and film and television music supervisor (CBS, 1977-91), dies after a fall at 87
- May 14 Zdzisław Żygulski, Jr., Polish art historian, dies at 93
B.B. King (1925-2015)
May 14 American blues guitarist and singer (The Thrill is Gone), dies at 89
- May 15 Bob Hopkins, American basketball forward and coach (Syracuse Nationals; Seattle SuperSonics), dies of heart and kidney failure at 80
- May 15 Garo Yepremian, American NFL place kicker (Miami Dolphins), dies at 70
- May 16 Dean Potter, American free climber and BASE jumper, dies in a wingsuit flying accident at Yosemite National Park, aged 43
- May 16 Prashant Bhargava, American filmmaker (Patang: The Kite), dies of cardiac arrest at 42
- May 17 Chinx [Lionel Pickens], American rapper (Coke Boys), dies in a drive-by shooting at 31
- May 18 Raymond Gosling, British scientist involved in DNA structure research, dies at 88
- May 20 Brian Cubbon, British senior civil servant, dies at 87
- May 21 Louis Johnson, American rock bassist and vocalist (Brothers Johnson), dies at 60
- May 22 John Horlock, British vice-chancellor (Open College), dies at 87
- May 22 Marques Haynes, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame guard (Harlem Globetrotters), dies at 88
- May 23 Anne Meara, American comedian and actress (Stiller & Meara, Archie's Place, The Other Woman), mother of Ben Stiller, dies at 85
- May 23 John Carter, American actor (Scarface, The Hoax, Badlands, Max-Falcon Crest), dies at 87
John Nash (1928-2015)
May 23 American mathematician (subject of movie "A Beautiful Mind") and Nobel laureate, dies in a car crash at 86
- May 24 Tanith Lee, British Science-fiction author (The Flat-Earth Cycle), dies of cancer at 67
- May 27 Erik Carlsson, Swedish rally driver, dies at 86
- May 27 Gordon Hobday, English scientist (developed penicillin with Alexander Fleming, worked on Ibuprofen), dies at 99
- May 28 Steven Gerber, American classical composer (Music in Dark Times), dies at 66
- May 29 Betsy Palmer [Patricia Betsy Hrunek], American actress (Mr Roberts, Friday the 13th), dies at 88
Doris Hart (1925-2015)
May 29 American tennis player (6 x Grand Slam singles titles; 29 x GS doubles titles), dies at 89
- May 29 Henry Carr, American athlete (Olympic gold 200m, 4x400m 1964) and football safety (NY Giants), dies at 72
- May 29 Peter Cropper, British violinist (Lindsay Quartet, 1965-2005), dies of a heart attack at 59
- May 30 Azmat Rana, Pakistan cricket batsman (1 Test, top score 49; 2 ODIs), dies at 63
- May 30 Joseph [Beau] Biden III, American politician and son of Vice President Joe Biden, dies of cancer at 47
- May 30 L. Tom Perry, American religious leader (LDS apostle), dies at 92
